When I was ten years old, I began to see the world as it was. We’d all had our eyesight tests at school, and it revealed that I was short-sighted. So short-sighted that I had to squint to focus on the writing on the blackboard, even though I was sitting in the front row. But you don’t know what you don’t know so it wasn’t until this diagnosis that everything started to make sense.
Cue: annual visits to the ophthalmologist resulting in new prescriptions each time. After we collected my first pair of glasses, I was dazzled by the world. I could see individual leaves on trees; before, they’d simply looked like a mass of green blurs. The concrete footpath was pitted and appeared to rise to meet me. I often stumbled until my brain adjusted to this new way of seeing.
I’ve worn spectacles with strong lenses since then. They taught me to pay attention to what was around me and look for the detail in the world. There’s so much to see but it’s just a matter of observing and not taking anything for granted. I am grateful I learned that lesson so early in my life.